Okla. House Passes Parole Of Elderly Inmates Bill

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Legislation that would allow
prisoners age 65 and older to request a parole hearing has been approved
by the Oklahoma House.

House members voted 54-36 for the measure Thursday and sent it to the Senate for consideration.

The measure by Rep. Jeannie McDaniel of Tulsa would
create the Parole of Aging Prisoners Act to allow aging prisoners to
request parole after completing 10 years or one-third of their prison
sentence. The Pardon and Parole Board would recommend parole only if the
board finds that the inmate does not pose a risk to public safety.

McDaniel says allowing elderly prisoners who don't
pose a risk to public safety to be released from prison on parole will
free up some of the state's crowded prison cells.

(AP Photo/Jennifer Kay). Six crosses are placed at a makeshift memorial on the Florida International University campus in Miami on Saturday, March 17, 2018, near the scene of a pedestrian bridge collapse that killed at least six people on March 15.

A matter of seconds between those who would live and those who would die as Florida pedestrian bridge topples down highway bustling with passing vehicles.

A matter of seconds between those who would live and those who would die as Florida pedestrian bridge topples down highway bustling with passing vehicles.

(Nick Wagner/Austin American-Statesman via AP). FBI agents work the scene of an explosion in Austin, Texas, Sunday, March 18, 2018. At least a few people were injured in another explosion in Texas' capital late Sunday, after three package bombs detonat...

Officials reported that an explosion in southwest Austin injured two men in their 20s who were hospitalized with injuries that didn't appear to be life-threatening.

Officials reported that an explosion in southwest Austin injured two men in their 20s who were hospitalized with injuries that didn't appear to be life-threatening.

(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino). Pope Francis sits among youths for a group photo during the opening session of the pre-synod of the youths meeting, at the the Mater Ecclesiae college in Rome, Monday, March 19, 2018.

Pope Francis has asked forgiveness for all Christians who buy sex from women, telling a roomful of young people that frequenting prostitutes is a crime against humanity and the sign of a "sick mentality" that...

Pope Francis has asked forgiveness for all Christians who buy sex from women, telling a roomful of young people that frequenting prostitutes is a crime against humanity and the sign of a "sick mentality" that thinks that women exist to be exploited.

(Joe Ahlquist/The Rochester Post-Bulletin via AP). Emergency personnel respond to the scene of a fatal stabbing Saturday, March 17, 2018, at the Salvation Army Castleview Residence in downtown Rochester, Minn. Police have arrested a man in the multiple...

Police have arrested a man in the fatal stabbing of two men at a Salvation Army apartment building in downtown Rochester, Minnesota.

Police have arrested a man in the fatal stabbing of two men at a Salvation Army apartment building in downtown Rochester, Minnesota.